Eat ~ Build ~ Grow, something good

Baked Oats – Revisited

I’ve been eating baked oatmeal nearly everyday since that first post a couple of weeks ago. I’ve done it with pearled oats, steel cut oats, old fashioned and quick cook. I’ve changed the ingredient mix-ins, I’ve monkeyed around with proportions and liquids and cooking times…

And, I’ve come to the realization of a couple of truths:

I really don’t like breakfast. The thought of getting up in the morning before there’s even a sun and stuffing anything in my pie hole before I’ve had 2 or 3…. pots of coffee – is just craziness. I don’t know how anyone does that. I found that I like eating it better as a snack cake… or dessert.

It doesn’t work with anything other than a smushed oat. Pearled and steel cut oats just can’t hydrate enough, and because of the whole graininess it can’t merge with the eggs. You get sweetened scrambled eggs with bird feed on top. And while any rolled type oat will work, standard – old fashioned oats give you the perfect balance of texture / creaminess / tenderness. Quick cook oats – while they are rolled – tend to lose much of their structure while hydrating, leaving you with pretty much a bowl of goo.

After 4 attempts at the baked oats, I found I really dislike yogurt. I especially dislike cooked yogurt. And there isn’t any way to hide that off-date milk cheesiness it has.

Although I’m something of a butter fiend, (I do love me some full-fat moo cow creaminess) And to be fair, I did try it with 3 different varieties of butter – Standard American Creamery / Irish / and Mountain – I don’t like it in the oats. To me, butter is too heavy and flavorful, and it masks the delicate oaty flavor. I found Land O Lakes Buttermilk Margarine lighter in flavor and less heavy. But to be perfectly honest – it’s really best made with run of the mill vegetable oil.

It’s better with fruit. Specifically – Dried Fruit

After twelve different good attempts, a couple of complete misfires, and one unashamed complete spatula scrape into the trash basket, I’ve come up with a version to the original that I’m perfectly happy with.

Mix the oats and buttermilk together in the bowl.
Cover and allow to hydrate for 6 to 8 hours.

Baking:

Preheat the oven to 350
Mix the remaining ingredients in the bowl with the hydrated oats. Stir well to make sure everything is good and combined
Spray the pie plate with cooking spray and fill with the oat mixture
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes – until the center is firm and the top is lightly browned
serve with your favorite topping.

I’ve served it with Tofutti Soy Cream Cheese and some macerated orange slices in syrup.